Sabır (Patience) - Kurulus Osman

Chapter 19

Ceyda smiled her brightest smile and the twinkle in her eyes returned. "A-"

Before she could finish, Kongar gripped her arm, making Ceyda face him, confused. He shook his head in warning. Before Ceyda could process what the gesture meant, Selcan slapped away the bowl Balgay was trying to force down her throat and flung away the tray.

"You will drink the sherbet of death in the end," she scowled, making Balgay choke her. "The Kayis will have a wedding at your funeral," Selcan gasped as Balgay tightened his grip on her throat.

Ceyda turned towards the fight and watched with horror as she felt a spark of recognition for the woman Balgay choked. Cries of protest came from the family, but Balgay paid no attention to them. Ceyda looked between the man who gripped her arm and the man who choked the woman she recognized. She jerked her head in the direction of the protests to see a bunch of familiar faces. Suddenly, she heard an ear-splitting scream. She covered her ears with her hands and shut her eyes as she fell to the floor. Images of death, destruction, and fire flashed before her eyes, little children being slaughtered so mercilessly, men and women being thrown into fires, her father breathing his last.

Ceyda couldn't stand the violence. "Yeter! Leave her!!"

"That's it!" Balgay dropped Selcan and grabbed Ceyda's arm, pulling her to where he was standing. Kongar was about to interfere but stood back. Balgay forced her hand to Selcan's throat and covered it with his. "You need to stop having breakdowns. This will teach you."

"No! Stop!" Ceyda tried pulling her hand away, but it was no use.

"You're only making it worse."

Ceyda could do nothing but watch as the woman suffocated because of her.

"She's back... Ceyda! Ceyda, you don't have to do this! Ceyda, please come back to us. Come back to your family. Can you hear me?" Aygul yelled hopefully, believing this was the way to get back her sister.

Zohre understood that this was her fault. If she hadn't been so cruel to Ceyda, she never would have left. If she hadn't pushed Ceyda away because she wasn't what she wanted her to be, she never would have gone. If she hadn't been so keen to get her back, she never would have lost her way. "Ceyda... if you can hear me, you must know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. Please, come back to us. Come back to me."

Ceyda zoned out again. That voice. It was the voices from her childhood.

"Ceyda..." someone warned, lovingly. "Don't do that. Don't do it." A little girl giggled as she reached out for her uncle's sword. "Ceyda, you will get hurt."

"That's okay. You are a healer, so you can heal me. It will give you good practice," Ceyda assured, matter-of-factly, turning to her aunt who now crossed her arms.

"But I will be very sad if you get hurt, and tell me, is there a healer for the heart?"

"Is there?"

Zohre Hatun laughed. "Maybe if you help me pick herbs and make medicine, we will find one."

Ceyda was about to give in but shook her head. "No, you do that. I want to fight like my uncle."